Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-14
A Word to the Growers and Ship
pers of Fruit.

EDITORS HERALD-Having for the
past three months been visiting the
Eastern States, and my route of travel
being from choice through the States
of Kansas, Southern Missouri, Illinois.
Indiana, Central Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Virginia, have been
afforded good opportunity of judging
of the fruit interest of this year, 1887, 4,
after which l am prepared to say that
on my little ranch of forty acres in
Vernon | have seen more fruit, (on
my return) of the various deciduous
kinds. than fell under my notice
through any or all of the above-men-
toned localities in short, the fruit crop
of the East and Northwest is an en-
tire failure, and in consideration of
this fact can see no imperative need
that single box of fruit of any de-
scription should go to waste here when
we have such an abundant crop, pro-
vided growers and shippers will unite
their energies and place the same
upon the markets east of San Bernar-
dino and county. The consumers of
the eastern country want it and are
willing and anxious to pay a fair price
for it. Let me say, then, in conclud-
ing this subject, to you growers and
shippers of fruit, wake up to your own
interests and give to the consumers of
the East that which they 50 much de-
sire. Since my return / have noticed
(and that, too, with deep feeling of
regret) not only in my own loved neigh
borhood, Vernon, but throughout the
entire citrus belt, disposition and
reckless mania upon the part of own
ers of orange groves to fell and lay
waste to the ravages of neglect, their
beautiful and highly remunerative
orchards under the excitement of high
prices in realty. fear many of them
do not stop to consider the cost in
comparison with the profit. l do not
know that | could better illustrate this
fact than by saying (and that without
fear of CONTRADICTORY, that an orange
grove under full bearing will pay 10
per cent. interest on an investment of
$4,000 per acre; in other words, his
crop will year after year sell at from
$4O0 to 5000 per acre; grant then, for
the sake of argument, that he barters
away the pride of his early life and his
home, that same lovely grove, for
$4,000 per acre /; he by so doing puts
himself in possession of net income,
by way of interest accruing at per
cent, of $240 per acre, minus his home
and pleasant surroundings, and has
in his Golfers, as a yearly allowance,
$3.50 less per acre on his booming sale
than he would have had from the pro-
ducts Of that acre. tell you, my
friends, this subdivision of nice,
healthy and beautiful orange groves
into city lots is great mistake-it GER
tainly shows no profit to the seller and
becomes great detriment to the
beauty and significance of the entire
community. Let, if you please, the
people as class, destroy their groves,
of the orange has ceased to be an in
dustry, that the pride of our lower
country has been felled by the axe of
the real estate speculator, and you at
once destroy in part the incentives that
are well calculated to invite, not only
the pleasure seeker, but the capitalist
to our homes Let me then again be-
seech you to ponder well the destruc-
tion OF your own labor under the ex-
citement of high prices in realty, and
curse the man who would attempt, by
the woodman's axe or the ditcher's
hoe, the desolation and destruction of
our beautiful homes and groves. Re-
spectfully submitted,
J. H. BREWER.